Business Improvement Strategies in the Highways Agency

CASE: Transportation Improvements.

What Criteria should Zachary use to evaluate the project?

Needs Identification:

Projects are born when a need is identified by the customer (community)-the people or the organization willing to provide funds to have the need satisfied. The customer must first identify the needs, problem and opportunity for a better way of doing something, in other situations; it may take months for a customer to clearly identify a need, gather data on the problem, and define certain requirements that must be met by the person, project team, or contractor who will solve the problem.

As JR knows there are several critical projects that must be done a request for proposal should be prepare where it will state comprehensively and in detail, what is required, from the customer's point of view to address the identified needs or problem to the commissioner,

The identified problem for these three projects:

There is a need to provide a safe entrance to Big John's superstore; the current problem is motorist not being able to see what is happening at the bottom of the hill in good time in order to take correct steps to avoid an accidents. It is difficult for motorist traveling in one direction to see cars in the opposite directions until they come over the crest;

The road to Elk Mountain is full of potholes and has not been maintained for long time;

whilst the road was sparsely used in the past namely by only hunters and fishermen, it has now gain a status of commercial use by loggers who are using it to up the mountain to clear trees to sell to Saw Mill;

This is causing the road to deteriorate at a faster rate in such a way that soon this new economic activity could be hampered by an unusable road;

The bridge at Route 1045 is unsafe to use, to this effect the state inspection was done four years earlier and it is of a certain probability that the bridge might not pass the inspection schedule for the next coming years;

The time limit for construction of the bridge already depends on the coming inspection which is on a period of within 12 months;

An alternative rout for people who regularly use this bridge is 15 miles longer as compared to this route;

Project Objective:

In the planning process project objective need to be defined which is the expected results or end product, the objective must be clear, attainable, specific and measurable.

It must also be clearly defined and agreed upon by the customer and the organization or contractor that will perform the project, in this situation, JR must make sure that the objective is clearly defined to the commissioners, as it is the target - tangible product that the team must deliver.

Identified objectives of these three projects:

To minimize or eliminate the possibility of a motorist turning into Big John's superstore being hit by another motorist from behind and also being hit by another motorist approaching from the opposite side whilst turning, and also the installation of traffic lights;

The second project objective is to widen and repair Elk Mountain road, and fixing all the potholes which are larger and deeper in a short period of time,

The objective of the third project is to upgrade the bridge from County Route 1045 that goes over Crockett Creek before the bridge washed out,

Project Planning:

Project planning is an iterative process and must be performed throughout the life of the project, planning also determines what needs to be done; what needs to be done; who will do it; how long will it take; how much it will cost; and how it is to be accomplished.

Zachary must go through the project life circle to be able to plan for all these three projects:

The development of the RFP becomes available at the conclusion of the identification phase and ends when the agreement is reached with the person,

Zachary must prepare a pre proposal with some concepts or approaches e.g

a scope statement, action plan, and budget; and present them to the commissioner, by presenting this proposal it should be able to give the commissioner understanding and clarity to what the customer (community) needs or expectations,

In his proposal, he must briefly summarize the department history and why it can be trusted to use funds effectively, and also state the mission.

Feasibility Study

On planning phase after identifying the need, problem and objectives Zachary could also consider a feasibility study, this should provide a good foundation to allow early project analysis and design activities to commence in a focused manner. The end product of the study should be a clear, concise Feasibility Report to senior management, which presents the proposed project's original specifications and objectives, with conclusions and recommendations. This report should highlight the advantages and disadvantages associated with each option and cover issues such as cost, revenue, strategic considerations and other issues.

By following the underneath steps, can help Zachary planning for these entire three projects

* Step 1 - Appoint an experienced Manager and team, the membership of which depends on the nature of the project. The team should include a range of specialists, and should not be dominated by one type of specialist. It should also be as small as possible, as smaller teams are easier to coordinate. The Manager of the Feasibility